Comprehensive Project Management Documentation Template

Making a Comprehensive Project Management Documentation Template

For successful fool-proof project management documentation you need a proper scheduling. and a comprehensive plan to follow. Project scheduling during project management documentation is broadly discussed below:

Project Schedule

Create a list of tasks that need to be carried out for successful project management documentation. For each task identify the following:

The amount of effort (hours or days) required to complete the task.
The resource that will carry out the task.

Once you have established the amount of effort for each task, you can work out the effort required for each deliverable, and an accurate delivery date. Update your deliverables section with the more accurate delivery dates. In this way a good and referential schedule of project management documentation will be made and used easily.

After this point in the planning, you could choose to use a software package such as Microsoft Project to create your project schedule. Alternatively, use one of the many free templates available. Input all of the deliverables, tasks, durations and the resources who will complete each task.

A common problem discovered, is when a project has an imposed delivery deadline from the sponsor that is not realistic based on your estimates. If you discover that this is the case, you must contact the sponsor immediately. The options you have in this situation are:

I. Renegotiate the deadline (project delay).

II. Employ additional resources (increased cost).

III. Reduce the scope of the project (less delivered).

Use the above created project schedule to justify pursuing one of these options.

Supporting Plans

Now this section will deal with plans you should create as part of the planning process. These can be included directly in the plan.

Human Resource Plan

Identify by name, the individuals and organizations with a leading role in the project. And, describe their roles and responsibilities on the project.

Next, describe the number and type of people needed to carry out the project. For each resource detail start dates, estimated duration and the method you will use for obtaining them.

Create a single spreadsheet containing this information.

Communications Plan

Create a document showing who needs to be kept informed about the project and how they will receive the information. The most common procedure is a weekly or monthly progress report, describing how the project is performing, milestones achieved and work planned for the next period.

Risk Management Plan

Risk management is an important part of project management. Although often neglected, it is important to identify as many risks to your project as possible, and be prepared if something bad happens.

Here are some examples of common project risks:

Time and cost estimates too optimistic.
Customer review and feedback cycle too slow.
Unexpected budget cuts.
Unclear roles and responsibilities.
Stakeholder input is not sought, or their needs are not properly understood.
Stakeholders changing requirements after the project has started.
Stakeholders adding new requirements after the project has started.
Poor communication resulting in misunderstandings, quality problems and rework.
Lack of resource commitment.

Risks can be tracked using a simple risk log. Add each risk you have identified to your risk log; write down what you will do in the event it occurs, and what you will do to prevent it from occurring.